Alanna the Lioness fumed as she replayed the events in her head. She slammed a fist down on the bureau in her room and glared daggers out the window. George sat on the bed thinking over what she had told him about Court. Then and idea popped into his head. "Alanna, dear. You remember your page and squire years? I have an idea."

He explained his plan as she listened. A smile grew steadily across her face. (any one know what is going to happen?)

Two days later, the Lady Knight galloped out of Pirate's Swoop's gates. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Keladry of Mindelan sat on her bed staring at the blank walls. She missed Cleon and Merric, Seaver, Roald, Esmond, and the rest of her friends. She missed the palace and the training and the sparrows. She missed Peachblossom and Lalasa and especially Neal. What would she do with her life now? What could she do at the Islands, what could she do here? Kel had moped endlessly for weeks, and her parents grew worried.

When the realm's sole lady knight arrived to talk with her parents, she remained in her room, knowing it would only make another gap in her heart to see her idol she would never be like.

Kel sat thinking when there was a knock on the door. She walked over and opened it, admitting the Lioness.

Kel sat on the bed and offered the Lioness the end of it. Alanna looked the girl over; she would have made an excellent lady knight. And if Alanna had anything to do with it, she still would.

"Keladry, I have been talking with your parents. It's true, you were treated unfairly and deserve the chance of knighthood. I have an idea that you may choose to go with."

"Lioness, I-" Kel began.

"It's Alanna." She said.

"Alanna, I don't think they will give me another chance." Kel said unhappily.

"Keladry, do you know how I got my shield?" Alanna asked, hoping to enlighten her.

"Yes. You pretended to be a boy for eight years. And then surprised everyone when you were.goddess.knighted! You mean I could do that too?"

Alanna smiled and nodded. Then Kel frowned.

"What would my name be? What fief would I be from? The Crown knows all of the fiefs son's already." She said.

"Kel, I have heard that Mindelan has a very large family. Something about so many cousins not even the family knows them all?" Kel nodded. "You could be your own third cousin. Hmm.Colby of Mindelan. Does that sound good?"

Kel nodded ecstatically. She may have to redo the four years as a page, but she still would become a knight.

"But Lio- Alanna. I would look too much like myself. My hair is already short, how could I disguise myself?"

"That was exactly my thought. I was talking with the mage, a good friend of mine, Numair Salmalin. He also agrees that you were treated unfairly, and therefore helped me with a little bit of spelled powder. Now, are you sure you want to become a knight? Don't agree for me or your parents or Tortall. Only agree if you want to."

"I do, Lioness. Really." Kel said assuringly.

Good, now lets get to work."

She led Kel over to the basin of wash water in front of a mirror. She motioned for Kel to wipe her face clean. Then, she drew a small stone bottle out of her belt purse.

Alanna took off the cap and grabbed a pinch full of black powder between two fingers.

"Close your eyes." She told Kel, and gently wiped some powder over her eyelids. She made a loud noise that was a cross between a squak and a whistle, and the powder vanished, leaving Kel with bright green eyes. Kel gasped at the change.

"Hold still," Alanna said. "We still have more to do." She sprinkled some in Kel's hair, and it turned a dark chocolate brown. Across her nose, the freckles disappeared. Alanna stepped back, and Kel looked at herself in the mirror. She was so changed. She looked nothing like the real Keladry of Mindelan.

"Alanna, won't the mages know?"

"I made sure they won't. Because Numair put shielding spells on it, only another black robe mage could tell, and I assure you, no other black robes will be on this side of the Emerald Ocean for fifty years at least. She ran to give the Lioness a hug.

"Thankyou, Alanna. Without you, I'd probably be sent off to a Yamani convent."

"You are doing the favor, Keladry. I want their to be more lady knights. You will be a help to that wish. Now, Coram will be accompanying you. Hopefully, he will persuade that idiot Wyldon that you are fit to be a squire. If he askes, tell the training master you have been at the University of Weaponry for the past four years. Now there is one other thing that magic cannot change.

Unfortunately, you will have to bind your chest like I did. Only the Mother Goddess can change your feminine features." She drew out some long bandaging and pushed Kel towards the dressing room.

Kel entered, wrapped herself in bandage, and returned. Alanna frowned.

"Kel, that won't pass. It still shows a bit. Do you need help?" Alanna asked, noticing there was still a bulge in the appropriate place. Kel nodded.

"I think so."

Kel gasped in pain as Alanna tightened the bandage. "The first two days with this thing will be hell, Keladry, but after that you will start to get used to it. Not that it will ever be comfortable, but it won't hurt so much. I wish I had this when I was a page and squire; I have some liquid you can take everyday to lessen the pain."

She handed Kel a clay jar. "That bruise balm I gave you will also help if you run out of this. Now, let's go show your parents and you can be on your way."

Kel's parents gasped at their daughter, not recognizing her until Alanna explained.

After saying goodbye to her parents, brothers, and the Lioness, Kel rode with Coram all the way to the Palace.

Once there, she stopped her horse and looked at the palace. I'm going to become a knight, she thought fiercely. And NOTHING will stop me this time. Coram took the chance to speak to her.

"You are a lot like Alanna herself, Lass. Very stubborn. That's a good thing. Make sure you don't slip. It would be best if you told none of your friends. Maybe one, if you are sure of him. Too many friends knowing could get risky, so pick only one or two."

Kel nodded understanding.

A maid led them to Lord Wyldon's office. He drummed his fingers on the desk and smiled.

"Your name and fief?" He asked. Coram supplied it.

"Milord, this is Colby of Mindelan." Wyldon eyed Kel.

She felt like he would see right through her andsend her home, humiliated.

"You are from the Mindelan house." Kel peeked through her lashes.

"Yes, milord. Keladry and I are third cousins. Mindelan is a very large family." Kel feigned her voice deep and knew she would have to until she was knighted.

"I hear you just turned fourteen. That is a bit old to be a page." He said.

"Yes, milord. I have been studying at the University of Weaponry for the past four years." She said.

"The boy is good enough to be a squire, m'lord Wyldon. They do the same training at the University as here. She has also trained with our sergeant- at-arms."

"Alright, then. Colby, you are a squire. But," he added. "If I find that you aren't good enough for that rank, I will move you to a page. Stand with the new pages. Because you are unfamiliar with the castle, I will assign you a volunteering sponsor."

"Yes, milord."

Kel said goodbye to Coram who would return to Trebond to Rispah, and turned to Salma.

"Of Mindelan?" She asked. "Keladry was good. You may have her old room since it is the only one left." Salma left her.

Kel sighed and fell on the bed. She was so happy to be back.

The weeks she had been gone had been torture. She had almost given hope before Alanna had come.

Keladry changed her clothes and stood out in the hall. Wyldon came down the hall, followed by the older pages and remaining squires.

"You." He pointed to a boy. "Name and the holding of your fief."

"Cael, milord. Cael of Naxen." He stuttered. Wyldon turned around. Owen raised his hand.

"I'll sponsor him, milord." Lord Wyldon nodded. They went through several others before getting to Kel. She was last.

"Name and fief." He said. Kel gulped inwardly.

"Colby of Mindelan." The hall suddenly went quiet. It was as if her voice had rang out saying 'Mindelan' over and over.

"Lads," Wyldon said, noticing their silence and stares. "Colby here is a new squire from the University of Weaponry. He is Keladry's third cousin. Who will sponsor him?"

Kel heard Esmond's voice. "Looks like you have a twin, Neal." Neal stepped out of the crowd and looked at her sadly. She felt a pang in her chest at the sight of him.

He was thinner that usual with bags under his eyes. His eyes held no mischievious sparks like usual, and he walked like the world was ending. He looked her over with pained eyes before finally saying,

"I was your cousins sponsor, I will be yours." Wyldon nodded.

Even he, the uncaring Stump, had noticed Nealan's lackluster appearance and lossed weight. He had also heard from the Mithran priests that he barely read his books anymore and his academic work was poor. He was disturbed even more when he noticed that Nealan didn't talk back anymore. He was no longer sharp-tongued. The boy accepted whatever the training master told him or made him do with a bow and no complaints. The girl really had changed him, and her lost presence was affecting him deeply. It also appeared to affect most of the other population with the exception of Joren and his crew. Wyldon cursed the girl. She had waltzed in to be a page and in four years had turned all of his hardy pages into bumbling, sad young men that practiced only when told and fell behind in studies after she left.

Kel followed them to dinner silently, sitting across from Neal.

Her best friend sat staring at his food like he was about to cry.

Slowly he picked up his vegetables first and began to eat them.

Kel's heart lurched at the sight. Except for Joren and his friends, and the pages who didn't know her very well, the mess hall was silent.

Wyldon and the King just looked with worried eyes at the scene. Usually the noise would be enough to drown out trumpets, but now it was silent except for a few low voices.

She wanted to kiss him and explain everything that had happened. Now Neal ate only his vegetables, and dumped his tray leaving for his rooms.

Quietly Kel asked Cleon what happened to him. She got the answer she expected.

"They were close," he said. "He and your cousin. They were best friends. On her first year, it was only your cousin, The Girl, and Neal, the 16 year old scholar. He was her first and best friend. As you've probably heard, Wyldon kicked her out before she became a squire, and he hasn't been the same since, even if it's been a month. Kel sighed and dumped her tray. On the way back to her rooms, Kel heard voices and a shriek. She turned the corner to see Lalasa pinned up against the wall by a large burly man. Kel walked in quickly.

"Leave her be." She said forcefully. The man turned around, and, seeing she was noble, bowed reluctantly. "You have no business scaring the maids. Be off." Kel said.

He nodded and left the room. She turned to Lalasa. "Follow me please." Lalasa looked unsure and scared at the sight of this squire who had rescued her, but followed her back to her rooms. In her rooms, Kel closed the door and bolted it, making Lalasa even more nervous. Kel sensed it and said,

"Lalasa. It's me. Don't be afraid." Lalasa looked up startled. Who was this boy? Suddenly Kel waved a hand over her head and muttered her name, and the spell came off, revealing Keladry of Mindelan.

Lalasa gasped.

"Milady! It's you. Why..?" Kel hushed her and explained. Lalasa nodded after she finished, promising not to say a word.

"Where do you work now? Are you okay with your new master?" Kel asked eagerly.

Lalasa nodded. "I am working for Master Neal. He took me after you left so I would be safe. He misses you, milady."

Kel was thankful that someone had taken her that she could depend on to keep her safe. Lalasa was safer with Neal, because he was the powerful Duke's son, than she was with Kel. They stood quietly for a moment, before Kel asked,

"Should I tell him, Lalasa? Neal I mean." Lalasa looked up.

"He mumbles your name in his sleep milady, he holds the little cat you gave him every time he's in his rooms. He talks about you incessantly and he thinks about you every time he sees something. He's lost weight and hardly reads. Just sits there. He doesn't care about his court beauties anymore. Just sits and stares at the walls. I found him once out on the practice courts. He beat the head and arms off of the practice dummy. I had to stop him and take him to his father, the Chief Healer. You should tell him, for his own good."

Kel breathed in a sharp breath. He was in bad condition. She thought her friends would forget about her after a month, but she had been wrong.

"Thank you, Lalasa. I must go out to the practice courts for a while." Neal's maid nodded. Kel waved her hand over her head replacing the spell, and left the room with her staff. She wanted to bring the glaive, but it would be too risky.

Faster and faster she swung the staff like she would a glaive, throwing in some things Lord Wyldon taught her so as not to become suspicious. She made up her mind to tell Neal after her practice.

Kel finished her practice, bathed, and walked down to Neal's rooms.